what kind of response do you get when you "floor it" from a stand still? I don't even get a chirp from the tires- my car bogs down. I have an AEM CAI installed that just gives a loud noise but my car doesnt go anywhere fast.
my "check engine" light came on one time so i brought it to a dealership. they couldnt find anything wrong- they said ss preludes were red-flagged for blowing the o-ring on the torque converter and transmission problems- so it might be one of those. but they had no idea and said my car was fine and to come back if it comes on again.
I havent had the light come on again- but my car still seems way too sluggish from a standstill. Do you think it could be the o-ring or tranny or possibly related to the intake (i know of the ECU problems with emissions and have tested my car out after disconnecting the battery and such). If you guys have any ideas or suggestions i'd love to hear them- all i've gotten from friends so far is crap for buying a "torque-less honda"
thanks a lot!

 

The tranny on our SS Preludes is designed to NOT have fast spooling of the torque convertor. It is not the best way for the gearbox to be operated-but then again it is conservative in function. You need to read up in the Helm how this thing actually works. My Honda tech took me out in mine and showed me what was going on when in AUTO mode. In SS it is very responsive, but not as quick as a 5 speed from a standing start.
The only thing we know about is the issue with outright failures of the tranny. If you want to do launches-get the gearbox rebuilt by Howard Engineering or Level Ten for more agressive usage. There is no real relationship between engine issues and the transmission.

 

Thanks for the info.
I always drive in SS though. The main reason i'm worried is because the car seems to have become noticeably slower than it was when i bought it. Even after the intake. How responsive should the car be in SS from a standstill? i could never spin my tires (and i dont care about doing burnouts and stuff like that) but i used to have some slip. Now i just roll forward and i hear a deep tone from my intake at WOT.
thanks again for the reply

 

I asked a friend I work with about this and he suggested trying a better grade oil and possibly changing the tranny fluid. He also said that if it's really noticeable, check to make sure the brakes aren't draggin. I have no idea how to do that, but it's something. :-P

 

Depending on your mileage_I would go ahead and invest on the factory type tranny service. There are 2 versions. The first is about $50 and all they do is drain out 3 quarts and refill. If the car is more than 3 years old or has more than 30,000 on the odometer consider doing the full service (forget the owner's manual on this one) which will set you back $100-BUT-gets you a complete flush and fill of 7 quarts. The key is FLUSH using a machine that is designed to reverse flush the transmission. Honda dealers are supposed to do it this way in order to clean the screen in the gearbox. There is no replaceable filter like on certain domestic cars-so this is the way it HAS to be done.
That should help improve the response of the gearbox and extend its life. We do the fill version of the service after every track day and will do the full one at 30K.
As to changing any other fluids in the car-they have nothing to do with the transmission. I will strongly suggest that you cahange motor oil every 5K maximum and 3K minimum. Another thing-check with your dealer as many people fail to flush and fill the cooling system and brakes (clutch cylinders too) every 3 years or 30k-this is also important

 

Thanks a lot! i just hit 30k so hopefully that is it.